You've seen them, probably winced and then left immediately without trying to find out more because you'll find the whole experience just too painful. 

What am I talking about; websites with no real purpose, really bad navigation, obnoxious colour schemes, blinking graphics and pages that load soooo s-l-o-w-l-y.

It doesn't matter if you own a small personal site with a few pages or you're an MD of a huge corporate website, having a good design should come first and foremost if you want your visitors to stay and buy.

But what kind of things should you be on the look out for?

Here are a few web design tips to keep in mind:

1. Pages should load fast, really fast

Most people will leave your site if it's not done loading in less than 5 seconds. Remember, not everyone has a fast internet connection and 56k modems still exist, so try and make sure you've checked loading speeds for all connections.

To check out whether your site is up to par use Vertain's free web page speed test tool.

2. Text should be easy to read

The text size should be big enough, and the background should not obscure your text. If you want to be safe, use black text on a white background. If you want more color, choose very carefully to make sure it's still easy to read.

3. Your website should be easy to navigate

Each link should be clearly identified as such and graphic navigation elements like buttons and tabs should be easy to read and use. You do not want people leaving because they could not figure out how your Flash menu works.

4. Your layout and design should be consistent

If you switch between styles too much, you will confuse your visitors. If the design is too different, people will believe that they are now on a different website since the layout changed.

5. Avoid music and sounds

Very few people like to have music forced on them while they navigate, especially if they are already listening to music or surfing at their job! If you really cannot do without music, turn it off by default and ask visitors to start it themselves.

6. Design for browser compatibility

Many people do not use Internet Explorer on Windows. Make sure your site is at least viewable in Mozilla Firefox and Opera (if possible, you could even try testing on a Mac). Sites that target markets like technology should be more careful, since readers are more likely to use the newest browsers and gadgets like PDAs.

7. Design for all screen resolutions

You may like to surf in 1240x1080 with your new screen, but some people still use 800x600, or even 640x768! A site that looks perfect in high resolution may turn out to be impossible to view correctly in 800x600.

And, if you have a doubt, test, test and test! You can also ask your family and friends for help. Being less familiar with the website, they can help find a lot of things you overlooked.

So there you have it, some basic website design tips for you. On their own they have some merit but like any great cake it's all the ingredients together that produce outstanding results.